The release of Intimacy, Bloc Party’s latest studio effort, may lack the hype that surrounded the band’s first two albums, but the fans are still anticipating the raw energy and tight songwriting that has set Bloc Party apart from their English indie peers during the last half decade. Unfortunately, this time the fans will be disappointed.
Intimacy’s “One Month Off” might fill the catchiness quota for a lesser band, but compared to “Helicopter” or “This Modern Love” — two infectious highlights from the band’s debut Silent Alarm — the song feels lacking. Intimacy might be considered a success if it were judged against the pitiful standards of most modern rock, but compared to Bloc Party’s previous accomplishments, it feels like an utter disappointment.
The IDM-minded might appreciate the sonic experiment of Intimacy — songs like “Zephyrus” feature dreamy synths and drum-machine loops, and the album opener “Ares” flirts with Big Beat rhythms — but to this reviewer, the band’s studio trickery feels like a crutch for weak songwriting. I’d much prefer the catchy punk-rock melodies of Silent Alarm and Weekend in the City to the tuneless repetition of tracks like “Mercury” and “Biko.”
These criticisms are not meant to overly shortchange the highlights of the new album, however. As previously mentioned, “One Month Off” is the closest Intimacy gets to “Helicopter” territory, and “Trojan Horse” isn’t too far from the mark either. Both combine punk-rock energy with compelling melodies that catch the listener’s ear. “Ion Square,” the long and moody track that closes the album, takes its somber lyrics from the e.e. cummings’ poem “I Carry Your Heart with Me,” and the eerie timbres and languid rhythms of the track seem to fit the words perfectly.
Of course, these album highlights sound even better than they should when compared to such boring numbers as “Signs” and “Better Than Heaven.” The first is all texture, resting mostly on a whispery synth line that isn’t too interesting even before it’s repeated dozens of times. “Better Than Heaven” has a little more energy, but it’s similarly repetitive and not melodically interesting enough to sustain its 4.5 minutes.
Probably in an acknowledgement of the problems the recording industry has been facing actually selling plastic discs, Bloc Party and their record label have given Intimacy a non-traditional release. They’re currently selling a digital version of the album in MP3 format on the Bloc Party official Web site, while the physical version won’t reach stores until October.
This kind of experimentation with the business model seems like a good idea. The band can offer the album to the die-hard fans now (who would be the most likely to search out an album leak before an official release) and save the traditional discs for fairweather fans and the less technologically minded folks until the fall. This kind of experimentation seems necessary and just might work.
Now compare that to the sonic experiments Bloc Party and their producers have taken on Intimacy, most of which come off as tedious attempts to veil weak songwriting. It’s a sad day when a good band shows better judgment with business strategy than music.
Read More
The best albums of 2014
By Noah Zeidman | December 4, 2014Across genres, it has been a pretty great year in music.
Top 10 movies of 2014
December 4, 2014This has been an excellent year for film, offering everything from gripping blockbusters to innovative personal films.
Iggy Azalea is “Reclassified”
December 4, 2014It has become common practice among music artists to repackage their albums in an effort to simultaneously boost single sales and dish out new content by slightly renaming the album or slapping “Deluxe” onto the title.
